Dead or Alive: Prelude to 7
by metalgear
Summary: Following the sixth DOA tournament, a recent college graduate and veteran is recruited into a secretive company that calls itself "MIST." But what starts as a simple favor turns into a battle for the future as his new employers reveal their plans for everyone who stands in their way - including Helena, Kokoro, their allies, and every past contestant. Whose side will he take?
1. The Sleeping Giant

**Chapter 1: The Sleeping Giant**

"Pump number seven replacements, I've got the names Daniels, Ramirez, Jackson and...Rig." Our now ex-prospective recruiter dashed the rest of our hopes with a long sigh. "Sorry guys, I've got no more openings. Thanks for coming out."

"Yo, John!" While every other lucky bastard who found work today raced to the boat like the foreman would fire them if they were any slower, the last lucky hopeful went the opposite direction and chased me down the exit ramp. "Sorry I brought you all the way out here for nothing, man. They had more than enough openings for both of us. I bet the Foreman's cousin called last second to beg him for a job, the nepotist bastard."

"You deserved that last slot." There was no hiding the disappointment in my voice, but I meant what I said. _DOATEC, the vast multinational company that went from selling weapons to publicizing itself by hosting martial arts tournaments, was expanding rapidly as one of their competitors went out of business every week. But even with the conglomerate opening new plants and commissioning new oil platforms like crazy, there were STILL too few jobs to go around._ "I heard you saved a lot of people at the last plant you supervised. You're a damn hero!"

Rig tugged at the strap of his yellow safety helmet, secure around his neck. "It wasn't just me," he said modestly. "And they should treat you better. You're a veteran."

_Yet he cut his hair shorter than I did. I might have been the vet, but my first impression when I met him during my last days attending NYU, I felt like he looked the part more than I did. At least I had one excuse. _"It's hard to get a job with anybody that isn't with DOATEC these days. I just picked the wrong time to get a degree."

Rig just casually tossed his arm around my shoulder. _He was so chill about everything, something I wasn't known for in my circles. Assuming I still had any. _"Hey, I was in your shoes not that long ago - "

"RIG!" The Foreman yelled to him from the ship below, set to take all of the workers to the pristine new oil rig off in the distance. "Your boyfriend doesn't get your job just because you won't move your ass! NOW HURRY UP!"

Rig grumbled "ass" under his breath...or something close just as likely to get himself fired if word got back to the Foreman. "I'll keep an eye open in case another spot opens up. I've got a feeling something else is about to keep yours busy..."

Rig smirked while he passed me by, and it wasn't long before I found out what he meant. Two women who weren't decked out in attire appropriate for oil drilling were camped just across from us, as if they'd taken an interest in our meaningless banter. They both looked like they had more interesting places to be: the younger woman looked like she fell straight out of an anime after someone watching had decided to tip over the TV. Her short teal hair matched the color of her glasses, and she wore a white overcoat over her unusual choice of blue tank top and shorts. The other woman was oriental in appearance and she kept her short black hair braided. She wore a full business suit with dress pants, with her gray top buttoned only in the middle. I had a feeling Rig had been referring mostly to her...

"I apologize, we couldn't help but overhear." The older woman bowed, giving more of a hint to where she was from originally, though she spoke perfect English. I hoped that she hadn't noticed where I'd been looking before she spoke to me, but the blue-haired girl's half-hearted attempt to contain a groan of disgust gave away the fact somebody did. "We represent another one of DOATEC's subsidiary companies, MIST. I am Miyako, and this is my associate NiCO, one of our lead researchers."

"Hi, I'm...John." _First names only, I guess? Impromptu interviews were never my strong suit. Or, any kind of interviews, really. _"I applied to a couple positions, but to be honest, this is my first time hearing about your company."

"That's quite all right." Miyako reached behind herself and held a vanilla folder that she had kept behind our back. "We specialize in cutting-edge research and development that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. We've avoided publicizing our work in the past though our CEO, Mr. Donovan, is looking to change that. I can see why we might not have been your first choice even if you knew about us, but your friend Rig thinks you have potential. He forwarded us your resume...and I think we can find a position for you, if you'll consider our proposal.

_Rig never said anything about passing along my resume, though he was pretty keen on trying to get me something with DOATEC since he'd worked for them in the past. Mrs. Miyako was right; science definitely wasn't my best subject. I didn't know what a company like MIST had in mind for someone with a business degree..._

Miyako passed along her - _my -_ folder to NiCO, who started combing through it herself. "Let's see...US Army Reservist, a degree in business administration from NYU. Rig even made a note that you took some martial arts classes. Modern Army Combatives, Kenpo, Krav Maga...yet here you are, hoping to work on an oil platform. Are you a professional underachiever, or do you just really like manual labor?"

_The teal-haired girl sounded a good bit more anti-social compared to her boss, though I didn't exactly have lots of other prospects lined up. Maybe I really was a bit of an underachiever, but I knew calling myself one in a job interview wasn't the smartest thing. I was just going to have to wing it... _"I guess I...could have gone back to the military, if that was what I really wanted. But I never felt like I belonged anywhere. I wondered what else might be out there for me. I know that I owe my parents a lot, and they're getting older."

"I understand. You care less about what your resume says, and more about people. I think MIST could use someone like you." Miyako, somewhat inelegantly, swiped the folder out of NiCO's hand. "I used to live with my daughter, in Kyoto. Then we had to move to Tokyo to continue my work...and then I had to leave her under the care of her sister in France. I won't lie to you and say working for MIST comes without sacrifices. But I think you already understand that we need to make sacrifices for the ones we love so they can have a better world. My daughter's birthday is coming soon. If you could bring her a present from me, I would be more than happy to waive the formal interview and application process and begin your employment straight away."

"Sure, I could...deliver something..." _I knew some people would think I was crazy for turning down this kind of an offer, but I'd be stupid for not asking... _"I hope you don't mind me asking though, why not mail it to her?"

"Do you remember the oil platform explosion two years ago, the one your friend Rig was involved in?" Miyako asked. "There are whispers it might have been an act of corporate sabotage. DOATEC and all its subsidiary companies, especially are own, have erred on the side of paranoia ever since then. Given the nature of our work, it's not unusual for Mr. Donovan to impose draconian restrictions on sending mail or electronic messages in the middle of particularly sensitive projects."

"Let me warn you that Miss Kokoro doesn't take kindly to strangers," NiCO grumbled. "Though she might take a second to look before she introduces your face to her elbow."

"You simply caught my daughter in a foul mood. She's usually very well-mannered," Miyako snapped at her before reaching forward to touch my arm. "I won't forget this, John. You'll find your place with us, John. MIST takes care of families. You'll see..."

* * *

_I was terrified passing through airport security with Miyako's mystery box. The travel-papers she stamped with her credentials looked official enough sure, but who knew what kind of contraband she sacked me with?! The only thing I was more afraid of was what she and NiCO might do to me if I opened it myself. I was half-ready to sprint away for all the good fleeing airport security would do for my appearance, but the otherwise normal-appearing wrapped birthday present went through without a hitch, and at least it wasn't ticking. If __Rig had been here, he'd probably laugh his ass off knowing how much I sweated over this. I still wasn't sure whether to thank him or punch him in the face for getting me this job._

At least Miyako wasn't so secretive that she left me to wander Paris without so much as an idea of how to find her daughter. She left me with a dated portrait and a slightly more up-to-date address of a place where I could start looking. _Though the way the economy was, I'd be lucky if the "Cafe Douglas" hadn't been shuttered months ago. Or if Kokoro still looked anything like the teenager posing in her traditional Japanese dress__. _She was beautiful like her mother for sure, though with some key differences: the most striking one being her grayish-blue eyes looking affectionately into the camera. Her skin was fairer as well, and her longer black hair flowed down to her waist like waves of an ocean. _Though who knew? Maybe she took the picture just before her rebellious phase and shaved her head or got a couple dozen tattoos -_

_Wait...she was there. I couldn't believe my luck; the cafe was still there and Kokoro was sitting right there. _She looked a little different: of course she was older, wearing a beret along with a Western-style jacket, and maybe a little shorter compared to what I was expecting. The only thing the photo hadn't prepared me for was the look of misery etched across her face. She stared into her cup of coffee as if it was a black hole sucking her face into it.

_She was still a kid, albeit a twenty-year-old kid...so what did I have to be so nervous about? I just had to walk up to her, tell her that her mom says Happy Birthday, then hand over her present and call Miyako - OH CRAP! SHE NEVER GAVE ME A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL! OR ANY CONTACT INFO OF ANY SORT! OR A RETURN TICKET! What was I supposed to do?! Walk up to DOATEC Headquarters, introduce myself as a new hire, then tell them I didn't think to ask about how I was supposed to get back home? Oh well, at least I almost made it a week before getting fired - _

"Hello?! Anybody home?!" _Yeah, grown-up Kokoro was just a tiny bit shorter than I expected. I knew that now because she was waving her hand right in front of my face_. _She definitely knew I was there now, or at least physically standing in front of her._ "I asked if you were lost in three languages! At least, I did in English and Japanese. I think I asked if you butter your tuna in French."

"I don't butter my - I mean, hi! You're Miss Kokoro, right?" For a split second, Kokoro looked at me confused. When she looked down and saw the gift-wrapped present in my hand, I could have sworn she morphed into airport security. Her eyes narrowed, focused on me like a laser, and then she took a wide step back.

"You're going to say my mother asked you to give me that?" _NiCO's meeting with Kokoro must have gone even worse than I imagined for her to be so hostile to me now. _"Do you even know her?"

"I - yeah, I met her." _Maybe NiCO's warning, combined with her interviewing me, should have left me better prepared. _"A couple days ago, in the States."

"Then I'm sorry you came all this way," Kokoro turned her back on me and started walking away. "But if she wants me to have it, she can come herself."

"I'm sorry you're upset. She just told me she had to leave you with your sister - " I stopped dead in my tracks when Kokoro swiveled in place and glared at me.

"LOOK, MISTER." _Kokoro's arms were also more muscular than they were in the photo. I noticed because Kokoro looked like she wanted to hit me if I came any closer._ "Maybe you actually know my mother, and maybe you aren't just pretending to be a nice person. But I don't know you, and you're not the first stranger to just show up and act - "

_"Kokoro?! Kokoro, is that your voice?" _The sound of Miyako's voice - coming from SOMEWHERE - put an abrupt end to Kokoro's glare. Both of our eyes went darting around for the source before it finally dawned on me: _it was coming from Kokoro's gift_. I'd barely torn the wrapping off before Kokoro ripped the side of the box open and yanked a tablet out. _Better late than never Miyako, but you could have mentioned what was in there from the start and saved me a change of underwear!_

"MOTHER?!"_ If Miyako had left me with a return ticket, I would have taken the opportunity to scoot. _"Where are you?! Are you OK?!"

"Of course, honey." _Good, at least it wasn't prerecorded or I wouldn't be out of the woods yet. _"Is John still there with you? I can't believe I got so absorbed in my work that I forgot to tell him to open it first. If I hadn't also forgotten to turn it off..."

_Well, at least Miyako couldn't judge me too harshly for bumbling my way through my interview._

"Mom, how could you talk like you just left yesterday? Don't you realize how long it's been?!" Kokoro wasn't holding back with her questions or her tears. _Maybe I should have given them their privacy anyway..._ "Why won't Helena let me see you? How could you just leave me?! And was telling me that Fame Douglas was my father by PHOTOGRAPH your idea?!"

_OK. I understand why Kokoro reacted so harshly to NiCO's visit. _"Do, um, you two, want a moment alone?"

"I should have told you myself, a long time ago..." _Even having just known Miyako for a couple minutes, it was so unsettling to hear her voice tremor. _"Everything spiraled out of control so fast. Helena wanted me to abandon what I was working on...we always had our disagreements, but I knew she would take care of you. Everything my colleagues worked so hard for, years of blood, sweat and tears...I couldn't be the one who threw away so many sacrifices. But it was only meant to be for a couple of days. I never meant for you to lose so much too, to put your training and your whole life on hold waiting for me. Part of the reason I sent John to deliver your present was that I wanted to be sure you wouldn't be alone for your birthday. I thought maybe you could use a friend..."

_Well, at least now I knew why she didn't include a return ticket. We definitely didn't discuss this beforehand though..._

"So, you won't be home in time." Kokoro sounded as unhappy as she looked staring at her mother's face on the screen. I wished there was something more I could do, but all Kokoro seemed to want up to now was for me to get out of her face.

"Not yet, dear...but we're so close to changing the world, and then I won't even look at my phone for a month after. We can move back to Kyoto and continue your training from where you left off." Miyako sounded hopeful at least. "At least now, we can talk securely using this tablet. Just...don't show it off just yet, sweetheart. It's not supposed to be marketed to the public for several weeks now, so...don't get your mother in trouble."

"Thank you, mom." Finally, Kokoro looked more like the girl in the photograph with her smile. "It's the best present you've ever gotten me. The only better one you can give me will be coming back home."

"Soon, dear. Brush up on what you've learned and be ready to pick up where you left off. John, if you're listening...thank you. I know this is more than what you've signed up for, but I won't forget my promise. I love you, Kokoro. Goodbye for now."

"Bye, mom." Kokoro looked up as if she just remembered I existed - _that seemed to be a habit for both of them -_ and bowed her head. "Thank you, and I'm really sorry. I was awful to you. I can go...if you want."

"I can't kick you out, it's your sister's last name on the place." I tried to get her to at least smile, but she kept averting her eyes and looking downward like a guilty puppy. "Besides, after everything it's totally understandable - "

Kokoro shook her head. "That still wasn't any way to talk to someone I just met. Let alone for a maiko to speak to any visitor...though I suppose we're both visitors here." Finally, she looked up and smiled a bit. "I should probably start by explaining what a maiko is, shouldn't I?"

"Your mom did say we should stick together." _Besides, her birthday was coming soon - I wouldn't want to be the jerk who left her alone on her birthday, even if my boss wasn't her mom. _"And it sounds like I have an open schedule, maybe we can do some tourist-y stuff!"

"Yes! And I'm looking forward to learning more about you too!" Kokoro looked down at her watch. "Hmm, around this time I'd normally be practicing my Ba Ji Quan, but why don't you come practice with me? I haven't had anyone to spar with since the last tournament!"

"Spar? Wait - did you just say "tournament?"" _As in, the Dead or Alive tournament that Rig was always going on about? I told him I was a reservist, not an ex-Navy SEAL! _"Um, that sounds fun and all, really, but, I uh, don't have a whole lot of experience - "

"You're not scared you'll hurt me?" _Oh, I'm not so much scared of that as I am of the opposite. Why couldn't Miyako have just gotten her a punching bag for her birthday? _"You wanted to see tourist-y stuff, right? There's plenty of sights on the way! And like you said, we both don't want to disappoint my mother..."

**To Be Continued  
**

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Thank you for reading the first chapter of what's shaping up to be a fun little side project for me! I got my start writing fanfiction years ago with Dead or Alive, as one of the writers for an interactive on another site. Since then, I've written quite a few other stories for other videogames and TV shows, here and on other sites - including Sailor Moon, Digimon and Command & Conquer (as my avatar probably already gave away if you haven't read my work before!). But Dead or Alive will always have a special place as one of my first, and DOA 6 finally coming out rekindled my interest in revisiting this world. The overall storytelling has always left something to be desired; I definitely had my issues with DOA 6's story. But I always loved the characters - you can probably guess who my favorite is XD - but I've been a fan since the third game: Hitomi's a close second, and some of my other favorites include Kasumi, Leifang, Hayabusa (of course!), Eliot, Zack and Rig! And knowing there's other fans out there who want to give these interesting characters more of a story, I decided that instead of confining my little work to written notes, I'd share it and see what everybody thinks!

I hope I've introduced John as an interesting character - "John" was the name of the character in the interactive I took part in, so I kept the name as a tribute to the original :) and I also hope I made the best use. I've always liked first-person narratives, and the idea of dropping a new character into a universe we all know and love - and one where we often take for granted being able to see from the outside. If you do know a bit about the overall DOA story and MIST in general, then you know John's definitely being played and I hope I made showing his recruitment into Donovan's shady little group believable. I also wanted "John" to have a realistic backstory, but I didn't want to make him another assassin or special forces...part of what I love about Dead or Alive's cast is how seamlessly they mix assassins and ninjas with people who could be living down the street from us for all we know.

I'm definitely excited to know what you think, whether you like it so far or you think it's just silly - I've wondered the latter myself! - or where there might be room to prove. I don't pretend to know every single nook and cranny of the series lore, I was just a little disappointed in the story presented in the game itself (especially for Kokoro to just disappear after getting one of the more interesting storylines) and if I don't want to wait another 7 years to find out what happens next, I'm guessing you don't either XD. I have the next chapter half-written already, and I'll be eagerly looking forward to hearing what you think so far in the meantime! Until next time!


	2. The Ba Ji Dancer

**Chapter 2: The Ba Ji Dancer**

"Oh, you should really put some ice on that."

"Yeah, what happened to going easy on me?" I winced on the ground with Kokoro hovering over me after our 'practice' bout. _Clearly, I needed more practice._ "Same thing as "there's lots of tourist sights on the way?""

"I pointed out the coliseum where they held the last Tournament!" _Yeah, because it was right next to the cafe we were just at! _"And the tailor where I sometimes take my kimono to be fixed!"

Kokoro bent down and gently extended her hand to help me get up, but I shook my head politely and - _on second thought, maybe I should have accepted. She looked worried she went a little too far during practice, when it really wasn't so bad. OK, it was kind of bad.._. "At least I can walk away with my pride intact, knowing you were a quarter finalist. Though I would have traded it for a few more unbroken ribs."

"Yeah...I don't think I'll enter the next one, though." Hearing Kokoro say that made me get up a lot faster. _Maybe beating me would hardly impress anyone, but I'd been so busy minding my own pain I didn't notice...she was the one with the defeated look in her eyes. _"Jann Lee says there's no excitement in winning, but that doesn't stop him." Kokoro's eyes widened the longer I returned her monologue with a blank stare. "Wait, tell me you've at least heard of him!"

"I, thought it was a a guy with a...red jacket and spiky hair who won last time?" _I was too embarrassed to admit that Rig was the only reason that I knew even that. Rig and Kokoro both talked about Dead or Alive the way most people talked about Christmas and birthdays._

"His name's Diego, I think?" _At least thanks to Rig, Kokoro wouldn't have to know just how clueless I was. _"OK, TECHNICALLY Jann Lee still won. The other thing is, I don't think my mother ever wanted me to enter in the first place, though she cheered me on both times."

_I suspected Kokoro's second thoughts about entering DOA 7 had more to do with the latter reason. _"Maybe your mom supported you because she knew it made you happy? And it's part of your legacy...the first championship was your father's idea, wasn't it? And, if your sister succeeded him as CEO...that means you could be next in line, right?"

Kokoro chuckled, leaning up against the wall beside me. "I hope that doesn't happen. If Helena quits, I might just give you the job."

"Sure, my first job out of college: CEO of a multinational corporation!" I laughed.

"You're already more qualified than I am! You have a business degree!" Kokoro jokingly punched me on the shoulder, muttering a quick 'sorry' after I winced. "Helena suggested I take some business classes. It would be a good idea, if you're right. But I was already having a hard time balancing my formal training with my Ba Ji Quan practice before my mom disappeared. Now I feel like I'm being pulled in a million different directions when all I want is to go home and for things to be like they were. And no amount of practicing will make that happen."

"I...know a little bit about what that feels like." _Rig was a lot better at giving pep talks than I was. He was so chill all the time._ "I also know you didn't join the tournaments or bring me out here just because you wanted to win."

"That's true," Kokoro nodded. "Ba Ji Quan's about so much more than just fighting. It...helps me find my balance."

_Between her soft delicate side and the side that sends me flying halfway across the courtyard. _"Yeah, I meant to ask...that's not part of standard Geisha training, is it?"

"No, but have you seen the clogs we wear? You don't want to see the bottom of one flying at you regardless!" Kokoro laughed. _Inadequate maybe, but it cheered her up a little, at least._

We both shifted when we heard two pairs of footsteps growing louder before two blondes appeared, neither of whom looked dressed for training. They both wore thigh high boots and outfits reminding me of 19th-century corsets. One was much taller than the other, and tied her hair in a single long ponytail. The other blonde tied hers in two pigtails, following close behind the taller one even as she strained to hold up a picnic basket nearly half her size. The taller blonde looked familiar somehow, and though her eyes were bluer, I could see the resemblance to Kokoro's as she grew closer...

"There you are." The taller one directed her speech to Kokoro with a thick French accent. _That must have been her sister - well, half-sister_. "Did you forget? We were supposed to meet for tea this afternoon. I thought you would be sick of the café by now."

"Helena!" Kokoro rushed over to the opposite side of the yard and reached for her watch, which she had left on a bench before we started practicing. "You're way early! You said we weren't meeting until - " Having followed her, I glimpsed Kokoro's eyes growing wide when she saw what time it was, though the reddening sky hinted it was a little late for AFTERNOON tea. "I'm the worst. I lost track of time!"

"It's alright. I'm glad you've been keeping busy." Helena noticed me standing in the corner and looked slightly bemused, maybe in part due to the way I angled myself so I was partly hidden behind Kokoro. "If I knew you were bringing a guest, I would have brought more."

"Oh, uh - this is my friend John, Helena." Noticing I'd raced over to hide behind her, she angled herself so I was fully visible. "He's...maybe a little shy because he just started working for you!"

"Apologies for not introducing myself formally," Helena curtsied and motioned for the girl carrying the basket to come towards us. "This is my assistant, Marie Rose!"

"And Dead or Alive tournament contestant!" Marie Rose declared loud and proud, though Helena raised an eyebrow while Kokoro tilted her head and stared doe-eyed at the girl. "Well, technically I was only in the preliminaries, but I did more behind-the-scenes! Really long story though, you two wouldn't be interested!"

Following a protracted sigh, Helena turned her gaze back to me. "I must apologize further, but I haven't been kept up-to-date with all the new hires. I wasn't told to expect anyone."

"Well, I wasn't hired by DOATEC directly. It's one of your subsidiaries," I explained. "MIST."

"Pardon?" As if on cue with her boss' question, Marie Rose also dropped the picnic basket she'd been carrying. Helena paid it no mind, though. "You said you're working for MIST?"

"That's a pretty name for a company," Kokoro chimed in. "Can't say I've ever heard of them, though."

"They prefer discretion. When it suits them." _Everything about Helena's scowl told me she'd rather have not brought up Miyako's company in front of Kokoro. There was clearly more bad blood between Kokoro's mother and sister than the former let on. _"If you don't mind my saying, John...you don't strike me as their usual type."

"I...haven't really been with them long enough to know what their type is." _I honestly couldn't tell if Helena had insulted me or if she meant what she said as a back-handed compliment._ "I did apply to DOATEC first, for work on a couple of your new oil platforms. I didn't hear about MIST until my friend Rig referred me."

Marie Rose mirrored the exact same look of confusion that Kokoro had shown her when she said she was a former contestant. "I thought after that big accident - "

"It's okay that you did not update me on the new platforms, Marie. I can hardly keep track of everything, myself." Helena cut her assistant off abruptly. "I actually just remembered, I have another appointment to keep. You'll have to make due tonight, Kokoro. Forgive the rudeness with which I must abruptly leave you two."

"But Helena, I'm starving!" Kokoro whined and stomped her foot.

"Yes. You forgot about dinner because you were so famished." Helena motioned for Marie Rose to toss us a pair of sandwiches. "Perhaps, breakfast tomorrow? Your...friend, is welcome to join us. Au revoir."

Helena might have left us on a polite note, but she and Marie Rose paused their scurrying only so Helena could whisper something in Marie Rose's ear, before they both vanished out of sight. _And I thought Miyako and NiCO's introduction was weird enough. Kokoro's family success made them all a little strange, apparently..._

"That's my sister," Kokoro sighed in agreement. "Hey, I'm sure Helena already knows my mom is your supervisor, but still...should we have told her about the rest? What could my mom possibly be working on that has her so uptight?"

"Your mom did say they disagreed on a couple things. I...wouldn't have wanted that to have gone worse than it just did." _Everything about the way Helena acted earlier said she didn't want to even mention anything vaguely related to Kokoro's mom around her, but that wasn't fair. _"Look, all I know about MIST is they focus on science and research, the kind of stuff that would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. That's all your mom told me."

"At least now, I know why she's so secretive. Thank you." Kokoro looked across from me, to the setting sun and reddening Parisian sky. "I know Helena's not hiding things because she wants to hurt me. She said our father was a good man...but the more I learn about him, the less sure I am. Mom's...afraid to let go of the past, maybe. Maybe it's time I worked up the courage and asked them myself."

_It was true; I read DOATEC used to be involved in heavy weapons manufacture, though it was hard to imagine Miyako or NiCO involved in anything like that now. It wasn't the sort of topic I wanted to bring up to Kokoro...and I could see she preferred to watch the sunset and let what happens tomorrow happen tomorrow._

"Hey, so, your mom didn't say anything about a hotel, so maybe I'd better look for one before it's too late." _And hope Miyako's paying me enough to afford a room. France still wasn't the cheapest country she could have dropped me in. _"So, I guess I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?"

"Actually!" Kokoro called out just as I started leaving and did a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. "There's plenty of room in our place, and it sounds like Helena's gonna be out all night. So, if you wanted..."

_Spend the night at Helena's? Yeah, I'm sure she'd just LOVE that... _"Um, that's really nice of you, Kokoro, but, um, even if Helena was OK with it, is there some cultural taboo against that?"

"You're scared because she's still technically your boss!" Kokoro laughed. "It's for one night. She has way more important things to worry about than who her younger sister hangs out!"

"Wow, you're definitely new to the whole sibling thing - " _Wait. I could have sworn I just saw a blond forehead peeking at us from behind the corner of that wall a second ago. About the same height of that girl Helena was with..._

"No more stalling! I promised you a tour, anyway!" If I had caught someone in the act of eavesdropping us, Kokoro hadn't seen them - she was tugging my sleeve and laughing. _Maybe I was just being a little paranoid..._

* * *

_I had to one thing to say about Helena: she went to a spectacular level of effort to make Kokoro feel at home as much as she could. The apartment they shared - on the rare occasions Helena wasn't out at sea or too busy with DOATEC matters to visit - included a Japanese-style wing perfect for a geisha-in-training. I knew that for Kokoro, luxury was no substitute for her mother's presence, but it did show why Miyako trusted Helena with her own daughter in spite of the animosity between the two._

It was with great reluctance that I stepped foot out of their bath. _Even without booking a Parisian hotel, I knew I wouldn't have found anything even close on my budget. _From behind the sliding door, I could hear Kokoro still practicing on the shamisen, an elegant three-stringed instrument that looked functionally similar to a guitar from what little I saw of it before. From the doorway, I watched Kokoro sitting on the floor and continue playing, then clapped when it sounded like she reached the end. It was only after that I thought maybe I wasn't supposed to, but she giggled as she set aside her instrument.

"You're too kind." Her face was a little red as she bowed politely. "I was never a gifted musician, though I always loved to play. My teacher kept complaining to my mother that she didn't think my heart was really in it."

"You're definitely putting in the time, though." Kokoro held out her shamisen as if she was asking if I wanted to play, but I tried to shake my head politely and not look too eager to avoid embarrassing myself at something else. _That and I was too terrified to risk breaking anything in her apartment that I couldn't afford to replace. Which, at the moment, was pretty much everything in here. _"Just, don't forget the other important stuff. Like eating. And sleeping."

"I know, I know. I need a bath!" Kokoro laughed and jumped on her mat. "I'll be right back!"

Set aside in the corner was a cot that Helena used the rare few times she stayed here. Once I heard the water running in the bathroom, I lay down to close my eyes for a bit, though I didn't want to fall asleep before Kokoro returned. The sound of a metal object plunging into the dresser beside me assured that wouldn't happen though. After my heart skipped a beat, I swung my head to find the seven-inch blade of a commando knife plunged into the dresser, just inches from my face. And wrapped around the handle was the gloved fist of its owner...

"And I thought Victor Donovan's favorite lapdog was an amateur." Facing me down was a muscular hulk, tanned in complexion in spite of his Russian accent and wearing sunglasses indoors despite the sun having set hours ago. He left his dog-tags dangling just above my forehead in a show of arrogance, and leaned in close enough for me to notice the scar running from his left eyebrow to his right cheek along with his buzzed-back sideburns peeking out from under his orange beret. _How does someone his size - let alone dressed in bright, dazzling colors and wearing sunglasses at night - break in without making a noise?! _" I expected more from someone bold enough to mention him to my sponsor's face!"

_Helena?! So all those typewritten speeches about reforming DOATEC were just PR bullcrap! Why else would she hire thugs like this man mountain?"_

"Donovan must be soiling himself if he's desperate enough to send anyone he can drag off the street after little girls." Helena's personal bully - _or assassin -_ drooled smugness answering my unasked question. "Good. I want him terrified - "

The burglar stopped mid-taunt when we both heard the ever-slight creek of a sliding door in the hallway opening. _He must have noticed the water in the bathroom had stopped running a few seconds ago too. _He retrieved his knife only to draw a silver-plated revolver and level the end of the barrel at my forehead. "If you make ONE sound, I'll drop you right here."

_I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not. I'd seen men in the Army who took pride in their work with the same look this man's eyes held, thinly veiled behind his shades. __He wouldn't lose any sleep that night if he crushed my skull right there, I could tell that much. _But not soon after he stepped far enough away from me peek through the sliding door, I yelled at the top of my lungs "run, Kokoro!" and charged the would-be assassin. Remembering my training - _though having never actually used it in a real-life scenario like this - _I elbowed him square in the jaw and used my left arm to twist his wrist in. I reached for the revolver's hammer with my free hand...although he dropped the weapon before I could grab it, I managed to kick the firearm to the opposite side of the room. My victory was short-lived though, as he quickly sent me crumpling to the ground with a haymaker punch directly to the side of my head, blurring my vision. _Hopefully I at least bought Kokoro some time..._

I hoped the last thing I saw wouldn't be Kokoro disregarding my last request, but she came barreling into the room and her elbow plowed into the assassin's torso. He was sent tumbling backwards despite his much larger size from the sheer amount of force she struck him with. Kokoro saw me lying on the ground and started rushing over, but that gave the assassin time to roll back upwards and lunge for her. Kokoro swung around and managed to throw him off-balance with a low kick to his shin, but when she aimed a punch for his stomach, he lurched upward and managed to catch her arm. He wrapped his other arm around the back of Kokoro's head and lifted her feet off the ground, spinning her around like a ragdoll as she grabbed the arm around her neck desperately trying to free herself. Instead, he sent Kokoro flying into the wall behind me with little in the way of clothing, other than her hastily thrown-on bathrobe, to soften the collision.

"Stay down, girl. I would prefer to do this without hurting you," he growled angrily. I had just stumbled back on to my own two feet before I was grabbed by the throat and lifted upwards. "So, you are not completely useless, _svoloch_..."

That one curse and half-compliment was all he had time for, as Kokoro ambushed him with a knee to his thigh and forced him to drop me. He recovered quickly enough to deflect a fist aimed for his rib, but he was too slow to redirect a low kick directed towards his groin and was caught off guard when Kokoro grabbed his right arm to pull him forward. He stumbled, giving Kokoro an opening and she shoved him with both hands into a pricey-looking flat screen TV mounted onto the wall. The look on Kokoro's face as the TV fell on top of him and shattered told me that last part might have been an accident...

"Kokoro!" I was still gasping for breath after that last chokehold. "You OK?"

"Yeah..." Kokoro's voice trailed off, though she abruptly looked to me as if she suddenly remembered something. "Bayman! John, I recognize this man from - "

Whatever 'Bayman' was supposed to mean, Helena's hired goon suddenly became the least of our problems. The door - _or what was left of it_ \- sprang open, followed by the sound of a metallic canister clinking on the floor after it had been tossed through the narrow space. _A flashbang! _I shoved Kokoro to the ground with barely enough time to cover my own ears and eyes. They were still ringing when at least three armed men wearing tactical gear and carrying submachine guns piled into the room. Except these men clearly weren't cops...my least favorite acronym, 'DOATEC', was emblazoned in white on the front of their tactical vests. _They must have been here to finish the job 'Bayman' had failed to do. Maybe expecting these men would try to sideline her as Bayman did, Kokoro jumped in between us, but one of them dropped his SMG to unsheathe a stun gun and fired it at her. _All I could do was watch as the barbs pierced Kokoro's delicate skin and she crumpled onto the ground with a loud yelp, convulsing on the ground as electricity surged through her.

"Stop,_ durak_! That's your boss' sister, you idiot!" Livid, Bayman ripped the stun gun out of the hand of the guard who fired it at her. The last thing I saw, before I felt something sharp pierce my own neck, was Kokoro reel on the ground groaning. I reached for the object, feeling the plume of what I quickly realized was a tranquilizer dart, before my vision blurred once again and my head landed back to the ground. And off to sleep I went...

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: **Hi everyone, thanks for reading my second chapter! I'd like to thank the guest who reviewed my first chapter too - it can definitely feel intimidating putting up a new story and wondering if anyone's going to like it or if anyone even cares. Reviews, favorites and follows go a VERY long way with keeping us authors motivated!

I'm definitely hoping to introduce more characters with each chapter as I also try to stay focused on the characters most important to the plot, especially Helena and Kokoro at this point. I haven't been to Japan yet (fingers crossed I'll get to visit next year though!) so I'm not an expert on geisha, maiko or most aspects of Kokoro's home culture - I really wanted to include more of that side of her though, so I did my best to be accurate with it and present it as believably as I could. Fight scenes were always hard for me to write though it's also fun to try my hand at it. Since I have a little bit of real-life martial arts training, I did want to make Kokoro vs Bayman as believable as I could. Having a long, drawn out fight scene where Bayman pins Kokoro to the ground, twists her neck and snaps her bones, only for her to recover just wouldn't be very realistic so I set out to make it shorter while also trying to involve John where it made sense. Bayman's a trained assassin so Kokoro defeating him quickly just wouldn't make sense, but that also led Bayman to underestimate her and John plus they both double-teamed him when they had the chance.

Thanks again for reading, guys! I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say, good bad or otherwise! I have a good portion of the next chapter planned out in my head, so fingers crossed you won't have to wait long to find out what happens to John and Kokoro! And just what MIST has planned for both of them...


	3. A Mother's Betrayal

**Chapter 3: A Mother's Betrayal**

"Finally. Enjoy your little nap?"

As if waking up to Bayman at his smuggest wasn't bad enough, a loud clink accompanied my trying to move my arms followed by cold metal brushing against my wrists. I'd been handcuffed with a long chain running down from my arms connected to a belt around my midsection. I wondered if my legs might have been numb from sitting there for God knows how many hours, before I realized they had also been strapped to the long poles of my chair. As if Bayman wanted to add to the dramatic effect, he stood in front of the room's only bright and blinding light, illuminating the walls of the plain metal room. A thick steel door behind him marked the only way out I could see. _He must spend a lot of time in rooms like this; at least the sunglasses would make a lot more sense._ At first I worried for my eyesight as the rest of the room was still pitch black, but then I could see it was a long way down to the bottom; there was only a single walkway extending from the door to the thin circular floor keeping us at ground level. _I didn't want to guess whether or not this room's designer was a master at ocular illusion._

"DOATEC kept me in a cell just like this once." _I could believe Bayman was accustomed to this kind of layout; he paced back and forth without looking, not the slightest bit concerned he might overshoot and walk over the edge_. "They treated everyone and everything like an experiment. Of course, that was when your current boss ran it. Mine HAS changed things. But we all act the same when we're desperate. And you just threatened the only family she has left..."

"Helena." I grumbled, sparing him the effort of keeping his "sponsor's" identity a secret.

"I heard you met." He pushed a single button on a remote and the metallic bridge connecting what little floor we had retracted. "You haven't met her other friends, though. All with an axe to grind against MIST. Even former test subjects. I can't say for sure; I seem to have...fallen out of Helena's good graces. I would be disappointed if you loosened your tongue BEFORE her friends came, but I'd be obligated to tell her."

After a long minute of silence, Bayman sneered and tossed his remote off the platform. _I never heard it reach the bottom_. "Suit yourself. I'm curious to see how THEY loosen tongues. I imagine they do so literally..."

Bayman left me to wonder just what sort of people might have a grudge against MIST. _DOATEC hadn't left me with an amazing first impression, that was for sure_. _If there was one thing sleazier than government politics, it was corporate politics...and any "friend" to someone like Helena wasn't someone who could be trusted. Except maybe Kokoro, and anyone else born into it. Kokoro...I couldn't stand the thought of someone like Bayman detaining her in a cell just like this one._

Trying to stand was no good; another pair of chains kept my bottom firmly planted in my seat. _Bayman obviously had lots of first-hand experience with escapees_..._even if I miraculously loosened by straps or unlocked my handcuffs, the only option I could see was testing whether it really was a long way down to the bottom. _Just when I'd given up on the idea of getting myself out, I heard something outdoors crash into the opposite side of the blast-proof door across from me. _Was this "Helena's other friends" setting my expectations? _I did feel a chill run down my spine as the blast-proof door sprang open.  
_  
_"Kokoro?!" The last person I expected to come to my rescue walked through. Instead of being flanked by lawyers, she came inside dragging the now-unconscious DOATEC security guard who I suspected was the cause of the slamming noise. She wore a dark navy blue sweater, hinting further that she intended on sneaking into the place. _Subtlety did NOT seem to be her strong suit when it came to handling guards, though. _What are you doing here? He could have killed you!"

"Yeah, well, turns out you were right. DOATEC being my father's company does count for something." Kokoro fumbled through the guard's pockets - _I guess he never got updated on the line of succession - _and slipped a key through my fingers. While I unlocked my handcuffs, Kokoro held up a familiar tablet. "And I had some help getting the rest of the way..."

"John!" Miyako's stunned face greeted me on the monitor. _I definitely had it in mind to ask for a raise if I got out of this one... _"I heard stories that DOATEC ran detention facilities at one point, but I never believed them - "

"Tell me...her coming here, wasn't your idea," I didn't inspire a lot of confidence when I wobbled the instant I stood. I needed Kokoro to catch me so I wouldn't trip and fall off our tiny bit of floor. "They tranquilized me. I just woke up."

"Then it's a good thing Kokoro insisted. Who knows what else they might have done to you if I had tried to go through lawyers or the police first." Hearing Miyako reprimand me must have delighted Kokoro on the inside, though she wouldn't show it. "They won't be able to keep Helena's assassins from coming after you either."

"Assassins?!" _Maybe NOW Kokoro was having second thoughts about this. _"What would Helena even hire assassins for, mom? It's like she's gone crazy!"

"Your sister has been through more than you realize, dear. We're just lucky her men didn't search your apartment. After what they did to you, I'm not sure you're still safe with her." Her mother left us hanging for a minute, hopefully trying to come up with a way to get us out of there. "Kokoro, honey, I need you to open up the back of your tablet. There's a slot next to the memory storage card; that one holds a spare. After you find it, I want you to insert it into the outside slot."

"OK...got it." With Kokoro preoccupied, I took the hint this was why she dragged a guard in here and I started changing into his uniform.

"I'm uploading a computer program that NiCO worked on; I think it will lock down Helena's surveillance system so they won't be able to track you. It should preoccupy them long enough for you to escape the country, but I'm not sure it will work unless you upload it directly to DOATEC's mainframe. There's one way I know of to access it remotely, if Helena's people did not replace the old consoles." _Miyako herself didn't have much confidence this plan would work, though we didn't exactly have another choice._ "I believe that your father...installed a backdoor, in case the board or anyone else tried to take ownership of his company away from his children. That facility should still have a communications room; if it still has a DNA scanner, the only other thing you'll have to do is plug in the USB and NiCO's program will take care of the rest."

"It sounds weird my father would have one of those in every one of his bases. Did he really care about me and Helena that much?" Kokoro asked bitterly. _I couldn't blame Kokoro for wondering if he was paranoid for other reasons; it was hard to find anything written about DOATEC without some mention that Fame Douglas was known to be promiscuous. Helena's mother and Kokoro's mom were only two of his mistresses. Who knew if Helena and Kokoro were his only two children?_

"Your father was a...man of mixed morals, sweetheart." _After Miyako characterized her relationship with Helena as "disagreeable", she was likely understating Fame Douglas having "mixed" morals._ "He loved his daughters, though. He wanted his legacy to be available to you, if you wanted a part of it. I wanted to shelter you from the controversy and...toxicity of some of the people he surrounded himself with, and so I chose to raise you by myself. But I repeated the saying myself...blood is thicker than water."

"I know you did what you thought was best for me. I guess we should get going, mom." _Maybe Miyako had the right idea all along. Kokoro's entire life unraveling seemed to begin with meeting Helena and asking who her father was. _With Kokoro's chat with Miyako presumably over, she turned just as I strapped on the security guard's DOATEC-branded vest. "Oh. I see you dressed yourself."

_Why did she sound disappointed? Did I assume wrong? _"I thought that was the idea..."

"Of course!" Kokoro's face suddenly turned bright red. "I just thought, you might, need some help fitting into it!"

"John." _There was Miyako's voice ringing from the tablet again. And it sounded like she didn't need to see Kokoro's face to know what she meant. _"I have the building schematic. The communications room is one level below you, go outside the door and make a right."

"Right. Err, yes ma'am." I didn't argue with Kokoro, who wanted to leave the bridge extended for the guard when he woke up. _We were giving him more hope than Bayman gave me_...

* * *

_This couldn't have been one of DOATEC's headquarters. Even if they had assassins on call, they would have been more heavily guarded than THIS. My guess was this center was a corporate black site of sorts; they were keeping personnel to a minimum so the locals wouldn't get suspicious. _My uniform, and guards knowing who Kokoro was, got us past the cell block patrols easily enough. But there just had to be one last guard camped in front of the stairway entrance.

"Excuse me!" _And he just had to be the kind who actually cared about keeping his job, _as he was proactive in calling us over and standing at attention in front of us. "I'm sorry, Miss Douglas, but access on this level is restricted."

""Miss Douglas" is my sister's name." Kokoro's flaring temper didn't fare well for either of us, as it prompted the guard to step back.

"I explained that to her, sir. I was on my way to call it in." I tried playing it cool, non-verbally reminding Kokoro that getting into the comm room was the single most important thing right now. It was also a chance to take one step closer to the guard without making him suspicious.

"You've got your own radio for that..." _NOW he looked suspicious__. _At least what I lacked in hand-to-hand training, I made up for in speed when it came to unstrapping my holster first...

"Sorry, it's my first week." With the last guard's stun gun in hand, I took advantage of his flicker of confusion. Before he could react, I swung his arm aside and zapped him point blank. _He was definitely gonna want to put some ice on that after. We were just lucky no other guards came by, but it would be impossible to miss someone leaning up against a wall in the hallway even if nobody heard the noise. _Kokoro definitely looked uncomfortable after seeing me do that, but there wasn't time to dwell on it - I rushed her down the hallway as her mother directed.

"At least we found it!" Kokoro cheered just a bit too soon. My pass did unlock the door, but the room was occupied by a single scientist. _At least, she looked like a scientist - she wore glasses and a lab coat. _And she was planted in the seat across from what looked like the very console we needed to plug the USB into. The woman's brown eyes, mirroring the darker tone of her skin, were leveled squarely at Kokoro...

"Miss Hamilton!" _As if this wasn't bad enough, she was somebody Kokoro knew, so closing the gap and tasing her couldn't be option #1. _"I mean, Lisa! I didn't expect to see you here!"

"I'm just as surprised as you." Lisa set her glasses and stood. "You shouldn't be down here, Kokoro. What are you doing?"

"Helena knows! I just, needed to borrow a computer!" _Kokoro had many talents. Lying wasn't one of them, though._

"I still don't see why she'd send you down here with someone I don't recognize escorting you." Lisa shoved her chair aside and flung open a thin glass box on the console, leaving her finger hovering over a red button. "Sorry, but I want to double-check with your superiors. Leave your stun gun on the floor, or you'll have an entire squad to answer to."

"It's OK," I reassured Kokoro though I pretended I was addressing Lisa. With one arm in the air, I reached slowly for 'my' stun gun and tossed it on the floor.

"Kick it over to me and stay right there." While Lisa was occupied, Kokoro parted from me to take her side...but with Lisa mostly focused on me, Kokoro slipped the USB her mother gave her into the computer's port and pressed her finger against the console's bio scanner. The computer started flickering to life and the load screen for DOATEC's mainframe computer appeared on the wall behind Lisa before she realized which one of us it was.

"Kokoro, what are you doing?!" Lisa screeched just before Kokoro knocked the stun gun out of her hands and shoved herself between Lisa and the panic button. "Whatever this is, I have to stop you!"

"Go! I'll handle this!" Kokoro faced off with Lisa, both women spreading apart in fighting stances.

My first instinct was to do as Kokoro said; after seeing how our first practice bout went, I thought I might just get in the way. But I looked back only to see Lisa putting a quick stop to Kokoro's palm strikes. Kokoro's acquaintance might have looked like the science-y type, but she looked more than capable of holding her own against the Dead or Alive quarter-finalist..._a former luchadora, if the way she dropped low to the floor and jumped into the air was anything to go by. _Lisa's acrobatics seemed to disorient Kokoro, with Lisa grabbing her arm, pressing her back against Kokoro's, then leaping upwards after transferring her grip to Kokoro's head and slamming the girl into the ground with a sickening crunch. Lisa cartwheeled back to dodge a high kick Kokoro aimed while she was getting back up, then blocked one of Kokoro's elbow strikes. I thought that maybe Kokoro had caught on to Lisa's move-set when she tugged Lisa's arms apart and drove both fists into her stomach. But Lisa pounced forward onto the ground and dropped to the floor with a spinning kick, tripping Kokoro before grabbing her back-to-back again and throwing her into the floor headfirst.

I looked up to the screen and saw NiCO's program was still working painfully slow at breaking through whatever firewalls were keeping it out of DOATEC's surveillance. _Even if Kokoro gained the upper hand, she had little chance of escaping before security busted in here. Sorry Mom and Dad, I know you'd never approve of me hitting a woman, but I couldn't just leave Kokoro..._

I tried charging Lisa from behind while her attention was fully on Kokoro and swung at her, but Lisa rolled to her side as if she had expected it all along and wrapped herself around my body as if she was a slinky. I knew she was about to slam me into the ground, so I dropped myself first so my full weight would land on her. Lisa grunted and pulled herself out from under me. She easily sidestepped the second time I tried to punch her and swiped me with her right elbow, but I caught hold of Lisa's other arm and slammed my forehead into her nose. Lisa yelped and clutched her nose briefly before she leaped back into the air and landed both of her legs around my shoulders, twisting me around and sending me flying into the air. At least all that worked as a distraction; Kokoro dived back in, pulling Lisa's left arm downward and kicking her hard in the stomach. Kokoro pushed Lisa back my way with her elbow and I caught hold of her arm again. Kokoro caught on quickly to what I was trying to do and reached; with both of Lisa's arm pinned, we both struck her in the chest and kicked her upwards.

I thought Kokoro might have been happy thinking I'd been an OK tag partner this one time, but she looked at me a bit cross instead. "You don't have to stay!"

_I did chastise her earlier for breaking in, so I guess this was just how she felt. _"I didn't want to leave you!"

"I'll be right behind you, just go!" Kokoro insisted. Lisa jumped forward for another spinning kick even after all that bruising, but Kokoro anticipated it this time. She grabbed Lisa's leg, tossed her in the air, and struck her with both fists. _Fine, I'll go, _I thought, once I made sure NiCO's slow-as-molasses program was actually doing what she said it would. I wasn't prepared for the images I saw on the screen; I expected to see prompts and lines of texts. Instead NiCO's program was playing what looked like old test videos in different windows as it copied those very files...demons dressed in samurai suits, fire spitting from their eyes, test subjects floating in tubes straight out of a science fiction movie. _I might have assumed this was just Fame Douglas' pitch to the SyFy channel, except there were actual dates and even what looked like file attachments clipped to some of the windows. This COULDN'T have been the world-changing research and science MIST was pioneering. Right?_

"Kokoro..." I waited to make sure Lisa wouldn't try to jump her while I pointed out the display to her. "Either Miyako just discovered an April Fools joke that your father never got to pull, or this program's not doing anything that would keep Helena's assassins from following us. You're sure Miyako said "just plug it in?""

Kokoro shared in my confusion when she peered at the screen herself. _Even the demon images looked frighteningly realistic. They were professionally shot and labeled as actual experiments._ "She told us both the same thing. Maybe the program did what it was supposed to while we were busy?"

"Your mother...she put you up to this?" Lisa coughed and sputtered on the ground. "After Fame...your father...was killed, the legacy system was completely sealed off. Even if DOATEC was sophisticated enough to track you both across the country, we didn't even know if anyone other than Helena could access the old system."_Miyako...__could she and NiCO have planned on getting us inside a DOATEC building all along?_

"You're lying!"_ Kokoro sure wasn't ready to believe that._ "Or my mother didn't know!"

"She was head of DOATEC Japan. She knew." Lisa pushed herself up into sitting position, looking on the heartbroken woman in front of her with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry you found out this way, Kokoro. I never thought she would go this far."

Kokoro yanked out the tablet her mother had given her just yesterday, as if she hoped her mother's face would appear on-screen that instant to defend herself. Kokoro's eyes raced back and forth between the screen and Lisa, illustrating her turmoil deciding which to believe. I didn't think she finished processing any of it before she retreated back into the loading screen for DOATEC's mainframe. "We can't stand around waiting for this stupid program to finish! We'll just have to chance it!"

"Kokoro..." She looked back in horror to see me frozen in place_. _"I don't think she's lying."

Kokoro winced as if I had just punched her in the stomach, though her eyes then grew cold. "My mother's waiting for us. You'll see. She'll explain everything!" Kokoro clamped down so hard on my wrist, I thought she was going to break it as she started dragging me out of the room.

"Go." Lisa was left behind us reeling. "The ninja may not show mercy."

"I'm sorry, what did your people tranq me with?!" Even Kokoro wasn't strong enough to drag me out of there without asking. "I swear I just heard you say NINJA were after us!"

It wasn't long after Kokoro has successfully dragged me back into the hallway that a large triangular dart with a purple iris attached at the end struck the wall behind me. It had whizzed by my head close enough for me to hear it whistling past. This time, we found ourselves faced by two shadowy figures partly concealing their faces under hoods. As they drew closer, I noticed the smaller one's purple-trimmed fabric that matched the strands of purple hair peeking out underneath, red irises seemingly glowing in a mirror image of one pair I saw back in the comm room. The other's face was further hidden with a cloth mask covering their mouth, charcoal-colored robes tinged with light blue and white. _Whether they were real-life anachronisms or just really into the Halloween spirit, they sure looked committed to the act. _

"Great, now we know how comic book henchmen feel the first time a grown man in a bat costume pounces on them." _Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say in the moment, especially as the taller one unsheathed a very realistic-looking katana posited on his back. _But a third 'ninja' - this one fully concealing all but his green eyes within a black bodysuit and behind a silver headpiece that resembled the scalp of a dragon - appeared behind me and Kokoro in an instant.

"Hayate." The costumed man, at least going by his voice, raised a single hand in the air. "Not yet."

Any hope I had that we still had some teeny tiny chance at escaping was dashed by the thunderous boots of at least a dozen guards clambering into the stairwell, but a single woman emerged from the doors. _Helena. _"You understand now, don't you John? I see it on your face."

"Understand what? That you're insane, Helena?!" _Kokoro still wasn't open to entertaining the idea her mother put us in this position, no matter how many armed thugs DOATEC was threatening us with_. "You sent ASSASSINS after us!"

"I meant to give your friend the benefit of the doubt," Helena calmly started explaining. _Boy, did she have her work cut out for her. _"I doubt John would have said MIST's name openly if he truly understood what it means to work for them. I had Marie Rose follow you...but I panicked when she told me that he followed you home. Then Bayman went overboard, thinking John might finally lead him to Victor Donovan. Bayman, as is true of the ninja standing before you now, do not work for me." _My God, she's telling us there's actual, real-life ninja still skulking about. _"Donovan has taken someone precious from everyone in this hall. Miyako left us to work for him, Kokoro...the man who gave the order to murder our father."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Kokoro swung her head side-to-side in full denial. "When would she have even had time to work for somebody else?! She's the head of DOATEC Japan!"

"She was, Kokoro." Helena paused for a much-needed breath. "MIST is not a subsidiary company. MIST is a parasite that grew inside DOATEC for years, started by those within the company who wanted to continue the weapons and genetic research that our father opposed. Donovan had him killed so he could take control for himself. When the mercenaries Donovan betrayed and the ninja DOATEC victimized united to bring an end to his leadership, he fled with many of our scientists and half of the company's private army. But they did not have time to bring everything with them. Miyako used you, both of you, to upload a computer worm into DOATEC's mainframe computer and steal whatever else our father had that might be worth something to them. I doubt she foresaw how events would play out, but she moved quickly to take advantage...even if she knew doing so carried great personal risk for both of you."

"Helena!" Lisa swung the computer door open at the most inopportune time. "I think I can stop the computer worm from stealing any more data!"

"No," Helena ordered calmly. "Mirror the files they steal, but do not try to disable the worm unless there's a chance it could spread to our other systems."

Shock ran across Lisa's face, and she started to argue. "Just because I said I don't have any great love for DOATEC - "

"It's not because I don't trust you. To my knowledge, MIST remains unaware that we are having this conversation." After cutting Lisa off, Helena at me to pose the first question. "The one thing I cannot figure out - though I suspect you do not know either, John - is why MIST would send you instead of a properly trained operative. My belief is they are acting out of desperation and recruited you as a sleeper agent; you possessed enough experience to carry out Miyako's assignment, but with no past connection to MIST or criminal activity, you escaped notice. Assuming you truly are ignorant, you were also someone Kokoro might trust...so she is likely to call on you again if she thinks your mission was a success."

"Now I get it. I was just bait all along." Kokoro mumbled the words quietly to herself, but the anguish crossing over to Helena's face proved her words hadn't gone unheard. "This was never about protecting me."

"Tell me you don't believe that, Kokoro." Helena timidly reached for her sister's shoulder. "This was always about protecting you - "

"DON'T TALK TO ME!" _I could have sworn even the 'ninja' took a step back after Kokoro slapped Helena's arm away. _"You cost me a year of my life waiting for news about her! How many times did you avoid me when I asked?! You could have said something YESTERDAY!"

"You have every right to be angry, Kokoro, I...I know that I deserve it." Helena retracted her arm, red at the back from where Kokoro hit it. "I lost both of my parents to Victor Donovan. I hoped I could prevent him from taking yours also. There's so much I wanted to tell you - "

"The only thing I want right now is to be as far away from you as possible!" Kokoro shouted her sister down, showing she didn't care the least about whether the guards in the stairway or everyone else in the building could hear her.

"I'm afraid we can't allow you both to leave the building yet." Lisa was next to dare try her luck with Kokoro. "If you like, Ryu and I can keep you company. I'm sure Helena and your friend have a lot to sort out in the meantime."

"Don't go anywhere with them, John!" _Falling under Kokoro's glare was a little bit terrifying at the moment, even if I knew she meant well compared to what she wished upon Helena. _"She'll just lock you in another cell!"

"I'm actually hoping to prevent that." Helena looked again pleadingly to Kokoro, but her younger sister turned her head and huffed. "I need to impress on you both the seriousness of what you've done, however misguided it was. This will not be looked upon as merely an act of corporate sabotage. I will do what I can to keep this from the board and the police, but I need your help. And I really do need a moment with your friend."

"It's up to you, John. Be careful if you go." Cross-armed, Kokoro continued ignoring Helena's existence and turned to Lisa. "I'd rather wait alone, if you don't mind."

"I understand." Lisa raised her voice for a quick 'ahem' just as Kokoro started walking past her. "Although, if Miyako tries to contact you again - "

Before Lisa could finish, Kokoro shoved her mother's tablet into Lisa's hand, nearly breaking the door behind her on slamming it. Even the 'ninja' called Ryu, whose eyes held the stare of someone who had seen much worse than an angry woman, looked almost pleadingly to the other pair to switch jobs, but they insisted on remaining by Helena's side throughout.

"Is she going to be all right?" The ninja that Ryu had called 'Hayate' asked Helena.

"I've never seen her this upset with anyone before. God, what a mess I've made..." _Even after taking Kokoro's advice to heart and remembering this woman's part in what we just went through, even with part of me wanting to tell Helena she brought this on herself...I couldn't bring myself to. I honestly didn't know myself what I would have done in Helena's place. It was wrong of her to withhold the truth from her for so long, and she knew Kokoro at least a year longer than I did...still, I didn't know what I would have done_. _But the glint in Helena's eyes as she faced me again told me she saw more at stake than what Kokoro thought of her._ "I want to show you something I think will convince you, John. Something that, even with all of this, I am not sure Kokoro is ready to see. But it's time you saw what MIST truly is..."

**To Be Continued**

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**A/N: **Hi everyone, thanks for reading all the way up to Chapter 3! I admit, I'm not 100% sure I'm happy with the way it turned out, so I would really like to hear what you thought about it. There's going to be a bit more explaining in Chapter 4; sometimes though, I think it's OK to accept you're not writing a follow-up to Shakespeare and try to have fun with it. Kokoro's reaction to finding out the truth about her mother's work was very different from what I planned, so I'm not 100% sure she and Helena sounded in-character. Kokoro's always doted on her mother and she has been shown to have a temper sometimes, though I also think of her and Hitomi as the two nicest people in the whole game. I just hope it sounded right.

I'm also wondering what you think of John after three chapters. With such a large roster, I briefly thought about writing Diego in the starring role instead but I decided against it for a few reasons, not just the nostalgia of working on an original character DOA story. Maybe it would have been more believable for MIST would take an interest in someone who (albeit not technically) won the last tournament, but they've already lost several labs and personnel that I think it's believable they're getting desperate. Maybe the next game will prove me wrong, but I couldn't see Diego connecting with Kokoro, Helena, or some of the other characters who'll play a big role in the story the way I wanted him too. I felt like I would have had to write Diego as a different character to make that work and I just didn't connect with his backstory all that much.

So far, I have a couple lines of dialogue set aside for the next chapter; I plan on introducing Zack next with Hitomi, Leifang and Jann Lee set to debut in Chapter 5 :) after that my plan's to take a (hopefully short) "creative break" to iron out the second half of the story. Thanks for the support so far - likes, follows, reviews and notes really do go a long way toward keeping us authors encouraged, and I welcome all kinds of feedback. So hopefully I'll get to hear from you soon, and stay tuned for Chapter 4!


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